The Value of Vision and Solution Description

Have you ever spent millions on a program only to discover it didn’t deliver all that was expected? Or maybe you found that only one part of the situation was being addressed and other larger opportunities were being ignored or even damaged. I recall a data center that was built with a window to allow secure visibility. The only problem was the huge cooling unit that completely blocked the window. Oops! I am sure you have a few stories of your own.

I have been a part of a few programs that didn’t quite deliver all they could. But I have also had the fortune to be on programs that were wildly successful beyond all expectations. I can say that the latter were a lot more fun! In seeking to repeat the fun experiences, I analyzed the core differences between the two (and yes, I have read the literature too). In my experience, the successful programs had vision and solution descriptions that informed everyone on the program how to make decisions in their area. Each and every person saw the same picture of what success looked like and knew which way to go. Talk about rapid decision making!

For instance, I was on the leadership team of a global ERP implementation for a $2B company. The vision for the program was: “Any product or service quoted and then ordered on a single purchase order by the customer”. The outcome was ease of doing business and customer satisfaction. Of course there were exceptions to the vision; but people knew to escalate so appropriate decisions could be made. Recognized as hugely successful by the CEO at an all company meeting, the program came in on time and underbudget. Pretty powerful stuff; not to mention the awesome party we had with some of the savings!

The figure above shows that enormous value is received by your entire organization through the investments made in manifesting your vision and describing your solutions. And the value continues to flow down into the functions and the people that execute to your vision. Compared to the time, money and resources required for execution, the investment made in vision and solution is minimal and returned many times over.